Solid-phase microextraction of volatile components from natural grassland plants

The volatile components from nine plants growing on natural grasslands in A uvergne, central France, selected fdr the broad qualitative and quantitativ e diversity of their terpenoid fractions, were analyzed by high-resolution gas-phase chromatography and mass spectrometry (HRGC-MS) after static heads pace solid-phase microextraction (SHS-SPME). SHS-SPME allowed all the plant material to be analyzed under the same conditions despite its wide-ranging composition. This is not always possible with other extraction methods. Us ing an apolar poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) phase, numerous terpenoid hydro carbons, together with alcohols, cyclic ethers, and esters, were extracted. Its ease of use and the high resolution of the chromatographic profiles ob tained make SHS-SPME well suited to the rapid characterization of the main components of the volatile fraction of plants. Of the nine plants studied, four (Meum athamanticum, Pimpinella saxifraga, Achillea millefolium, and Th ymus pubegioides) exhaled more than 60 different volatile components. Certa in terpenes present in large amounts in these plants might help link dairy products to grazing pasture.